Trolley for electric vehicles.



Ty I TRQLLEY FOR ELECTRIC vnjnmnn s.

- APPLICATION FILED Q01. 7, 1908,

Patented Aug. 31, 1909.

. .J I lflllltl. Ill

(JWENTOR WITNESSES:

:TL ARNBY, I I TROLLEY r01: ELECTRIC VEHICLES! mommy nun 001.1, 1908;

Paten t egi Aug. 31,

QN M K RN MW AT'TORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE VARNEY, or rrr'rsnune, PENNSYLVANIA, Assienon, BY imsm; ASSIGNMENTS 'I'O wns'rmenousn ELECTRIC a nanuracrun VANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA ING COME ANY, OF EAST PITTSBUR G PENNSYL ITR'OLILEY' non nnncrmc VEHICLES.

Specification-oi Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Tnnononn VARNEY, B.

itilzen, of the United States, and a resident of Pittsburg, in the countyof Alleghenyand State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Trolleys for Electric Vehicles, of which the following is a .spccificatlon;

My invention relates to trolleys for eleck trically propelled vehicles, and it has for its object to provide a device of this character which shall be specially adapted to. transmit electric power at relatively high voltages from a stationary line conductor to a vehicle operating at a high speed Trolleys havingshding or bow contact members have been found preferable to other "types for high speed service particularly where large amounts of electric power are transmitted at high voltages from a. supply .line through a single contact member. The

contact devices of these trolleys have been usually held in engagement with the trolley linecor ductorb springs or by other suitable mechanical neans, but, .on accountof the inertia of the movingparts-which arein contact with the line conductor and the unavoidable irregularities in the suspension of the said. conductor. Such. interruptions of contact have sometimesoccurred' that destructive electric arcs were produced;

According to my present invention, I pro:

vide an improved contactmember the parts of, which are relativel light and age so are indepen ent con- H ranged as to be capab eo tact with the supply line conductor and thereby minimize the tendency for the en gagingj parts to be separated on account of the aforesaid variations'in, the supply line conductor.

Figures I, '2, and 3 of theaccompanying drawings are, respectively, a side elevation, an end elevation with certain of the parts broken away and a plan viewof a portion of a trolley having a' contact member constructed in accordance with my lnventl'on. Figs.. 4'-and 5 areviews similar'to FIgSQ. 1

and 3 which show a modified form of contact member having some of the features set forth in my cop'ending' application, Serial No. 366,499, theauxiliary contact shoes be ing constructed in accordancewith 'my'presa sectional view on.

ent invention. Fig. 6 is the line ,VI VI of Fig; 5.

"secured.

each other and are provided with horn-0r Patented Aug. 31; 1909.

the contact members and is preferab con-e structed in accordance with Patent :Njou- 879,267, granted to the Westinghouse Elec;

tric & Manufacturing Company, upon airapplication filed by Ray P. .Jackson, and a contact member? comprisinga plurality. of independent resilient'sections.

The 'pantograph supporting frame 1 is provided with across-rod or shaft'3 at its upper extremity upon which end castings 4 (only one of which is shown) are rotatably The end castings are similar to guide projections 5 which servethe usual purpose of preventing the ends of the contact member f pm catch-ing over the line conductor at thejunctionof two or more lines. The castings 4 arefurther provided withcross-rods or shafts 6 which are fixed to the walls of the casting near their ends so as to prevent rotation and to serve to support a plurality of spiral springs 7 the inner ends of which are secured .to the rods and the outer ends of which are carried in-- wardly and upwardly, those onopposite ends of the assembled contact member. being joined by resilient contact strips .8. The spiral springsare preferably made of steel ently movable. -The upper surfaces of the contact strips are -kept substantially inahorizontal plane by springs 9 which connect the sides of the casting 4 with suitable I points below it on the pant-ograph frame 1.

Thecontact strips 8 are preferably constructed of galvanized steel ribbon of other suitable material which produces aminimum amount of friction with the trolley conductor. The strips or ribbons 8 are provided with notches 10 near their extremities and. the ends of the spiral sprin 7 are bifurcated and bent to form hoo 11 to engage said notches. Any suitable means may be employed for securing these parts together, in lieu of that illustrated in the drawings.

By constructing the contact member ,in the manner above indicated, the tendency 7 sags? 8Y'illustfated,

Ltheiplane of the fma incontact shoe-.12 v 1 th y/h re not in contact withthe supply I an ' flexib l ty.

' v i p l to thespecificstructureshown'in;the-"drew p.455 means fol-s11 fox: the device to f become entirely separated ii t su p y, n u ts? d r ng tsnOr-- mal opetation -is entire followmgreasonsz first Onfo t 4fii 512'fi dispos'ed. -.These 3111x1112} contact areifsupportediat-e, sli ht distances y conductor and gate {intended tdf fbllow th variations and -irregula-tiities th ghenthemainfsho j -My inventionj-1 of course, not restncted 'ings-, and it will be; readily linder'stooddthfat the mnnben p v her-''forelectric vehlcles comprising,

ity of fiezgibl iidncting strips, and resilient Y 'it'ingthe' strips substantially.

filiethesame'phineunde ftenslom' 1 2. A itrolleyfor "electricvehicles comp 'ising a supportingstructure, e plurality of flexible conducting stripsfa'nd spiral springs interposed between and the strips. I

, 3. A t'rolleyfor elctiic vehiclesJoompii -s? ing 'a' supporting.-stri cture and aplurality of .resilient' contact "st-til voided i for the u j t afp b 'pafation jof all of- .line ,conductor :at

ppor't-ing' structure, a pl-dril ffih si p msi tr isfiur d sposed parqllcli to 4;; Afc0nt act fshoe forjtrolleys comprising s a" movable suppoifting structure-, a plurality of strips} 015 L nbbons of conducting material 1 stru'c't is, an

d sprin s to which the ends of 7e '4 tac ed and by which they y l' iii d t. L I K :oi tfle'ct trolleys'comprising a 1 s pporting 'stij'ucturecomprisihg. e rod "or ban je' dofraihes'rotatebly.mounted near the t "'es'kiof they-bar, end aplurality of 1 Hiekible=.:=contact'j-strips supported :by and f'stietchedg between theend frames.

ppo rting" sti'nctiire haying a rod, 01'- I".

eXtremities-iof the" bar, a cbn 'acts fp and sp re Springs p'jsf'for piecing. said strips 1111 sam'efplaneg. A I p 'for electric vehicles comprisup orting structure, a main shoe con man; er andxauxiliary contact members 80 11) sing Iflexible cojntact 'strips. disposed ti a lly parallel tosaid'main member.

rolley for electric vehicles: compriszi-infcontact' shoe and a {plurality of amp j 9. In t a trolley for electric ifi iehicles,

al main contact shoe having, "lon' itudinal reg whereof, I hegennto this '21stday of Sept,

ch"othensndl n' hel senie hoifinontgil plane 55 disposed .inside' by side relation upon said 60,

,fti olley for:e'lectric jvehicles compr i s- .e id fram m mountedii he lurality en the end fraunes and the cm 'e t'm mbers eaclnof which 86- "1 uses :1: flexiblecontactstnip @017 ribbon, v fin sw si i means for holding"'ihe'stri p I dl' t ain ,a' lanesubstantially1 mll 1:

the- 90 j'combin-ation with'a supporting structure and? act unitsl'a'nd thewidth-Q I f --.ces'ses, of'enxiliatycontect nem ers each 0 k which compfri'sesa flexible conducting 'strip 1f soinribbon, and spiral springsfor plapme the 

